Emphysema: The Basics

Emphysema is a major obstructive lung diseases that contributes to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is the gradual destruction of the air sacs in the lungs, making it progressively more difficult to breathe. The tiny cluster-like air sacs in the lungs are responsible for bringing oxygen to the bloodstream. As emphysema progresses, the inner walls of the air sacs form holes weakening their internal structure. Thus, emphysema allows less oxygen to reach the bloodstream. Emphysema also destroys the elasticity of the airways leading to the air sacs.

As a result, the air sacs collapse trapping oxygen in the lungs. People of emphysema constantly feel short of breath and struggle to breathe. The lung damage from emphysema creates trapped air pockets, which prevent individuals from expelling air forcefully. The more air that is trapped, the worse lung function becomes, which makes breathing harder and pulmonary function test results decline.

What are The Stages of Emphysema?

While emphysema is not typically construed as a four-step disease like its umbrella disease, COPD, there is still a major staging system available that can help practitioners and patients diagnose and understand their disease. GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) put forth a set of criteria that helps divide emphysema cases into four progressive stages. To differentiate between the four stages, GOLD recommends monitoring the amount of air a person with emphysema can forcefully exhale in one second; this is called the forced expiratory volume or FEV1. The FEV1 is determined through a pulmonary function test administered by a pulmonologist. The possible results are divided into the severity of each stage of emphysema.

Stage 1: This is considered mild emphysema. The FEV1 must be greater than or equal to 80% of normal lung function.

Stage 2: As moderate emphysema, the FEV1 must be less than 80%, but greater than or equal to 50% of normal lung function.

Stage 3: Severe emphysema requires a FEV1 less than 50% of normal, but greater than or equal to 30%.

Stage 4: A FEV of less than 30% of normal, or of less than 50% or normal with low blood oxygen levels indicates very severe emphysema.

While the GOLD emphysema staging criteria is widely used by pulmonologist and physicians alike, it cannot be used to evaluate every person with emphysema as it fails to acknowledge how people with emphysema feel or their quality of life.

Treatment for Stage 2 Emphysema

Patients in stage 2 of emphysema have many options to improve their quality of life. The Lung Institute offers two adult stem cell therapies: bone marrow stem cell therapy and venous (blood-derived) stem cell therapy. The venous therapy can be performed on its own when needed. During these therapies, the adult stem cells go through a specific process to target the damaged tissue.

Adult stem cells can be utilized in any organ in the body since stem cells are able to mimic any possible differentiated cells. Since they are capable of self-renewing indefinitely, they can divide many times and can specialize to promote the healing of organs, such as lungs, while still sustaining the original cell.

Stage 2 Emphysema Treatment Process

The stem cells are extracted from the patient’s body either through bone marrow or blood depending on the case. The stem cells are isolated by a trained professional in a clinical setting. The adult stem cells are quickly returned to the patient intravenously. Now, the stem cells will begin to promote the healing of lung tissue. With their ability to continually replicate, the lungs grow stronger, and patients are able to breathe easier and live better.

* All treatments performed at Lung Institute utilize autologous stem cells, meaning those derived from a patient's own body. No fetal or embryonic stem cells are utilized in Lung Institute's procedures. Lung Institute aims to improve patients' quality of life and help them breathe easier through the use of autologous stem cell therapy. To learn more about how stem cells work for lung disease, click here.

All claims made regarding the efficacy of Lung Institute's treatments as they pertain to pulmonary conditions are based solely on anecdotal support collected by Lung Institute. Individual conditions, treatment and outcomes may vary and are not necessarily indicative of future results. Testimonial participation is voluntary. Lung Institute does not pay for or script patient testimonials.

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As required by Texas state law, the Lung Institute Dallas Clinic has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from MaGil IRB, now Chesapeake IRB, which is fully accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP), for research protocols and stem cell procedures. The Lung Institute has implemented these IRB approved standards at all of its clinics nationwide. Approval indicates that we follow rigorous standards for ethics, quality, and protections for human research.

Privacy & Security Practices

The Lung Institute takes patient privacy seriously. The law requires that our healthcare facilities and medical personnel protect the privacy of your medical record and other health information We are also required to notify you of our privacy practices with regard to your Protected Health Information. This Privacy & Security Notice explains how your medical information is protected under HIPAA and HITECH laws and how your information may be used, disclosed, and accessed.

Internet Privacy Disclosure

The Information We Collect: The Lung Institute collects information by various methods including information actively provided by its lead providers, customers and information arising from customer surveys and general feedback.
The types of personal information we collect include name, contact information, identification information, credit information and other data types as appropriate. Contact information may be added to database for customer outreach and contact. Credit card information is used for billing purposes only. We may record calls to or from our patient care coordinators/customer service representatives for purposes of accuracy, performance reviews, training and general quality assurance.

How We Use This Information: This information is used to aid in the provision of our various products and services, including customer service, accounting, billing, collections and the marketing of other products services.
The Lung Institute may use aggregate or anonymous information for various uses for itself and third parties.

Who We Share This Information With: The Lung Institute does not share personal information with any third parties except as disclosed in this policy. The Lung Institute may provide personal information to the Lung Institute’s subcontractors and professional advisers (which shall be bound by privacy obligations) to assist the Lung Institute’s uses disclosed herein.

Security: Personal information is stored in a combination of paper and electronic files. They are protected by security measures appropriate to the nature of the information.

Accessing Information: Individuals may review their personal information contained in the Lung Institute’s files by contacting the Lung Institute’s privacy officer. If an individual believes that any of their personal information is inaccurate, we will make appropriate corrections.

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This cookie does not in any way identify you or give us access to your computer. In addition to using cookies as described above, we also may permit certain third party companies like Google Analytics to help us tailor advertising that we think may be of interest to users and to collect and use other data about user activities on our Sites and/or Services (e.g., to allow them to tailor ads on third party services). These companies may deliver ads that might also place cookies and otherwise track user behavior. You may choose to opt out of cookies by clicking here.

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General: The Lung Institute may amend this policy from time to time. If such amendments affect how the Lung Institute uses or discloses personal information already held by the Lung Institute in a material way, the Lung Institute will obtain consent.
Notwithstanding the general terms of this policy, the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information may be made outside of the terms herein to the extent provided for in any applicable privacy or other legislation in effect from time to time.
The Lung Institute may disclose personal information to another entity purchasing (including for diligence purposes prior to purchase) the assets of the Lung Institute, provided that entity abides by this or a similar privacy policy.